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Notes

Have you ever noticed that you find joy in helping others? Yet too often, we treat friendship transactionally, focusing only on the benefits others can give us. We don’t ask God to help us be a good friend. This morning in chapel, Dr. White, President of 91����, reminded us that wisdom helps us become the kind of friend we want to have.

Proverbs 13:20 says that the wise friend walks with the wise. Surround yourself with people who forsake folly rather than people who lead you into folly. You drift the direction in which your closest friends are going. Ask yourself, “Who that I hang out with encourages me to love Jesus more? Who that I hang out with is the kind of person I want to be?”

Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 explains that the wise friend shows up faithfully. The devil wants you isolated because it’s easier to destroy you that way. Isolation is not wisdom. Real friendship shows up. Will you be there when your friends fail the exam or go through the breakup? Will you be there in the hospital room? Let’s be a campus where nobody fails or falls alone.

Proverbs 27:17 shows us that the wise friend speaks life-giving truth. Don’t surround yourself only with people who affirm you and let you know how good you are. You also need people who wisely and kindly rebuke and challenge you. It’s important that you do the same for them and that you listen when they speak into your life. Remember that you don’t get to rebuke someone unless you’ve invested in their life; you don’t need to speak up every time you see something you don’t like. But if you have invested, you have an opportunity to speak life into somebody. Ask yourself, “Will my influence make it more likely that they choose Christ’s ways?”

Proverbs 15:31–33 says that the wise friend stays humbly teachable. Some of us are too resistant to the counsel that people give us. We need to listen and take wisdom instead of always correcting others or interrupting.

Proverbs 17:9 explains that the wise friend guards trust. If you share others’ secrets, they won’t be likely to trust you with the next secret. A true, godly friend covers up the small offenses and keeps confidence. They also respect space and boundaries.

We want a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Let’s be that kind of friend. Jonathan in 1 Samuel is a Christlike friend to David, but he only points us to Jesus, the greatest Friend we have. Jesus walked with His disciples to make them wise. He showed up in their fear and adversity. He spoke life with tenderness and truth. He modeled a humble posture. He guarded and covered those entrusted to Him. If you want to be a wise friend, lean into Jesus and let His love overflow out of your life.